Stone Brewing Co. is known for making some pretty big, serious beers, beers so intensely flavored that "aggressive" is a common descriptor. And being more than familiar with some of their over-the-top hoppy selections, we were more than a little curious to see how these hefty brews would fare in the kitchen.

First off on our cooking adventure through The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. is a Garlic, Cheddar, and Stone Ruination IPA Soup. Stone will have you know that Ruination is named for its palate-annihilating hoppy bitterness. We love it. But would we love it in a creamy, garlicky, cheesy soup?

One might assume that a meager cup of Ruination would get lost in a sea of garlic and cheddar, but the IPA packs a wallop and cuts right through the rich soup, with bitterness and hops coming through in every spoonful. Just like extreme IPAs can be polarizing, this soup has the same love-it-or-hate-it hoppiness. Certainly not for the faint of palate, this this soup is best saved for diehard IPA lovers.

Of course, if you're a middle of the road IPA enthusiast, you can always tone it down by using a beer with a lower IBU, but what's the fun in that?